Backs Against the Wall: The Stakes for MIN-SEA

Viking Auditioning
Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports.

Please note: This article originally appeared on our sister-site, PurplePTSD.com.

This series features the managing editor of Purple PTSD, Kyle  Joudry, plus VikingsTerritory’s, Dustin Baker, going back and forth on a pertinent topic for the Minnesota Vikings. In this installment, the guys discuss how the team can fix the ship ahead of its date with Seattle. 

Joudry: Well, Dustin, the season has had an underwhelming start. If I’m not mistaken, we both picked the Cardinals to win in Week 2, but we were both Vikings believers in Week 1. What has gone wrong for our friends in purple through the opening two weeks? Perhaps more importantly, what needs to go right for us to climb out of this early hole?

Baker: Do we consider Joseph missing the kick as something going wrong — or the Vikings effectuating their fate? Haha. The kick was bad, no doubt. I was even duped into believing he’d nail it. I’m an imbecile. We just have to accept the deity is going to strangle good moments out of us. Once that’s a foregone conclusion in our heads, only then can we pinpoint the real problem — defense. For now, anyway. What we see in these two weeks — is the exact same rubbish that transpired in 2020. Playmaking offense, with leaky and stinky defense. However, this time around, I believe Zimmer has the personnel to actually fix the damn thing. Last year, he did not. I’m of the opinion the defense needs time to jell. When it does, we already know the offense is money. The problem is — it can’t wait too much longer. The team will have a hard time climbing out of an 0-3 hole (if that happens). And it absolutely will be dead at 0-4. Put simply, the defense needs to show up. Particularly the secondary.

Joudry: Right, that’s fair enough. I think where I disagree slightly is that the defense has been poor, but not nearly as pathetic as last year. In that sense, it feels a little different from last year. I mean, last season, the Saints marched the ball down the field, and we had absolutely no hope of coming up with an answer; Christmas was ruined. This year, I’m thinking that most of the issues are due to mental lapses and mistakes. So, like yourself, I think the talent is there but needs to do a better job of communicating and understanding their role within the broader defense.

With that in mind, are you feeling hopeful about the defense’s chances heading into Week 3? What kind of challenge does Seattle present for both our offense and defense?

Baker: Yes, I am. This is backs against the wall stuff. As Apollo Creed said in Rocky III, there is no tomorrow! Damn, Rock. The Vikings will win against the Seahawks. Quoting the Nas album — It Was Written — the Vikings franchise is too good over the years (tough to swallow the Joseph kick in your head) to lose to anybody eight times in a row. Wilson has nipped the Vikings seven straight times! It won’t happen again. It has to be written Minnesota can finally upend Seattle. Fate stuff. Home cooking will be the great equalizer — kind of like my sledgehammer on Twitter. The defense will not be 2017ish, but it won’t look like manure. My only reservation about this prediction is the Seahawks just lost a heartbreaker to the Titans. Why on earth — did that have to happen? I still like the Vikings defense to smell the home cooking of U.S. Bank and play much better. Vikings, 31-24.

Joudry: Earlier this week, I wrote about the Seahawks matchup and said it was essentially a must-win game. The Vikings, in all likelihood, won’t be able to climb out of a 0-3 deficit. You make a good point, though, in that Seattle will have a similar level of desperation. They’re trying to avoid dropping to 1-2, a tough opening record given the strength of their division. With that in mind, what do you think Seattle will try to do to take down the Vikes? Do you think they’ll go right after our CB2? Do you anticipate more of an emphasis on the run?

Baker: They’ll do the same trash both Cincinnati and Arizona did. Wilson is better than Murray — for now — so he’ll be a wizard no matter what. The Seahawks will try to get Carson going. It just depends on what run defense arrives on Sunday. The beastly Pierce-Tomlinson combo we drooled over for a summer? Or the 2020 porous bunch we’ve seen so far. Wilson is going to have 250+ passing yards and 2+ TDs no matter what. The difference is whether Zimmer can keep them under 24 points — or under 34 points. If it’s the former, the Vikings will win. For whatever reason, this brand of Vikings is not built to win shootouts. And even when they perform offensively to win shootouts, vikingism with missed kicks and things sets in. Seattle will attack with balance from the onset, then pivot to The Russ Show in the second half. We’ve seen it seven consecutive times. The difference this weekend is the venue — at home. Finally.

Joudry: Indeed, we’ve played Seattle for three straight years, leading to three straight years of losing on the road. For some stupid reason (maybe playing at home will help), I’m rolling with the Vikings this week. I think Zim’s defense will take a step forward, and my hope is that the offense can continue playing well. Put me down for a 38 – 31 victory for the good guys.

Dustin, you’ve got the final word. Hit us with your score prediction and brief rationale.

Baker: Sticking with it from earlier, Vikings 31-24. Had they been wiped off the desert map last weekend, I’d predict an eighth straight Seahawks triumph. Yet, this one is at home, the Vikings are due, and frankly, they’re pretty good despite the 0-2 record. Plus, I’ll be there — so they better effing win.

Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sally from Minneapolis. His Viking fandom dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).

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